The Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice has spun and the NHL has given Lighting Hack Steven Downie and Chris Kunitz a one game suspension. In Steve Downies’ case he is a repeat offender and I believe his hit was more egregious and deserved more than a flimsy one game suspension. The Chris Kunitz hit was dirty but he isn’t known for being a dirty player like Steve Downie is. Brett Hull was XM-204 this morning and basically said until one of these players is eliminated from the NHL playoffs there will continue to be questionable hits like this in the playoffs. This was an opportunity for the NHL to make a point but they failed in the Steve Downie incident.
NHL.COM --- According to TSN reports, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Downie have each been suspended one game by the NHL for their actions during Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal-round series on Monday.
Downie's ban comes as the result of a charge on Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy during the first period. He was going to be assessed a minor penalty on the play, but the Penguins scored a goal before the Lightning were able to gain possession of the puck for the whistle to be blown.
Kunitz connected with an elbow to the head of Lightning forward Simon Gagne on a separate play in the first period of what ended up a 3-2 win for the Penguins. They hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series with Game 4 back in Tampa on Wednesday.
